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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29042757">Death Goddess</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky0ne/pseuds/Spunky0ne'>Spunky0ne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Mpreg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:47:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,873</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29042757</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spunky0ne/pseuds/Spunky0ne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate reality created by the quincy king, Ywach, a badly injured and dying Byakuya is abducted after his fight with As Nodt, and imprisoned at Silbern. Given the responsibility for caring for Ywach’s chosen consort, Haschwald finds himself instead, falling in love with the Kuchiki leader.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Haschwald/Byakuya, Renji/Tetsuya, Ywach/Byakuya non-con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Twisted Fate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Dalia!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dark incoming clouds thickened and a growing chill filled the air as evening came to the smoking ruins of the Seireitei. Near its badly devastated core, a lone shinigami taicho hung limply in the clutches of a ruined pillar, his clothing and body in tatters and the last dregs of his life threatening to spill out with the rain that ran down his trapped body. Dark, brooding eyes looked quietly out from the destruction, trying to make sense of what they were seeing.</p><p>
  <em>They said that Ichigo was coming.</em>
</p><p>Even in his current state, he knew well that the shinigami substitute would never fail them. Even if he, personally, should die, Kurosaki Ichigo would arrive, and his arrival would eventually mean the downfall of their enemy’s leaders. Almost as certain, was the fact that one of Ichigo’s first acts would be to seek out the people in the Seireitei that he regarded as his close friends.</p><p>Kuchiki Byakuya couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out how he had become one of those friends. There was, of course, his connection to Rukia and to Renji, both nakama of the Karakura Town resident. They certainly interacted on a regular basis, although the boy had an annoying habit of being terribly disrespectful of certain boundaries and customs. Still, there was a definite warmth that always seemed to be in the young man’s eyes, even when Byakuya was disapproving of something he was doing.</p><p>
  <em>It is like he connects with some part of me that I lost long ago. There is a wildness to his spirit that I know I once had too…before age and responsibility weighed my heart down and it could not longer be so selfishly rebellious as it was.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Still…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Understanding that part of him that is like the person I used to be…it gives comfort as I fade from life. I know Rukia and Renji will be all right, and that the things that I protected will be protected by him in my stead. I can rest easy, because Ichigo has the strength that I do not.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I only wonder.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I felt the touch of his reiatsu reaching out to sense mine.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I felt his intent to come to me…his desire for me to wait for him to arrive.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And yet, I do not feel his presence anywhere near.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There is, however…</em>
</p><p>He blinked as the outline of a cloaked and hooded figure appeared in the misted rain. The person paused, examining the area carefully before moving forward and abandoning the power that had been hiding him.</p><p>“Byakuya-sama!”</p><p>“T-tetsuya.”</p><p>His cousin swallowed hard, shivering at the sight of the horrid damage to Byakuya’s trapped body, but he drew in a steadying breath and forced his body to calm.</p><p>“You shouldn’t be here,” Byakuya managed softly, “The family…”</p><p>“They are safe,” his cousin reassured him, “I would not have left otherwise.”</p><p>Tetsuya extended slightly shaking hands and pale blue light flowed around them, sinking into Byakuya’s quivering, ruined form.</p><p>“I’m going to stabilize you so that I can move you to the encampment,” Tetsuya whispered, “It’s going to be all right. I’ll take care of you.”</p><p>He frowned and leaned closer, studying the deep lacerations on his leader’s body.</p><p>“This reiatsu,” he breathed worriedly, “Senbonzakura?”</p><p>“Y-yes,” Byakuya whispered back, “The enemy does not just seal bankai, they can steal it, Tetsuya. Whatever happens, you must not let them…”</p><p>Byakuya broke off and his eyes rounded in horror as two dark figures appeared suddenly behind his cousin. He tried to warn Tetsuya, but before he could make a sound, a glowing white blade was thrust through Tetsuya’s slender body, brightly lighting his shocked expression as he stiffened and grabbed at the part that protruded out of his chest. Byakuya gasped, trying to reach for his injured cousin as he heard the sickening sound of the sword being withdrawn, and Tetsuya collapsed in a swiftly widening pool of blood at his feet.</p><p>“Tetsuya!”</p><p>He turned hateful eyes on the quincy leader, who stood glaring down at him.</p><p>“He is a <em>healer</em>!” Byakuya hissed, expelling blood as he forced out the words, “Have you no honor?”</p><p>Ywach moved forward, capturing the trapped shinigami under the chin.</p><p>“He is a shinigami and he was in my way. Do not worry. All who die on this day will receive my thanks for their sacrifice.”</p><p>“<em>Bastard</em>!” Byakuya spat, “Why did you come here?”</p><p>“Hmm, are you telling me that you don’t know?” Ywach asked, stepping over Tetsuya’s collapsed body and moving in closer, “You don’t know the story of how the quincy people were slaughtered by the wicked shinigamis, Byakuya? I’m surprised. I am aware that your family is guardian to the king’s archive, and you, yourself, are responsible for recording events of all of Soul Society. Well, inscribe this in your leader’s journal. Today, the shinigami will pay for the genocide of my people, and tonight, I will rebuild the worlds for the future that I have seen.”</p><p>“What future is that?” Byakuya asked more softly, his eyes focusing on his fallen cousin’s too white face, “One who treats life with so little regard gives no one any kind of future.”</p><p>“I can give you a new future,” Ywach sneered, bringing his face closer to the noble’s.</p><p>“I would rather die here…now.”</p><p>Ywach’s eyes darkened and his reiatsu swelled warningly, stealing what little breath the noble had and leaving him gasping and shuddering.</p><p>“<em>You</em> will die when <em>I </em>say you will,” he hissed sternly, “Not a moment before or a moment after. Everyone in these worlds lives and breathes at my command. And when they take their last breaths, their souls join with mine. All that they were, all of their bodies, their powers and everything they knew and held dear, is revealed to me.”</p><p>Byakuya’s choked breath caught as his dark eyes stared hauntedly at Tetsuya’s fallen form.</p><p>
  <em>If Tetsuya dies, he will learn the location of the encampment!</em>
</p><p>“Now then,” Ywach said, straightening, “I have business to attend to…some shinigamis not obedient enough to die as I planned. Haschwald.”</p><p>“Sir?”</p><p>“You will take Byakuya to Silbern and remain with him while he is healed.”</p><p>His second in command blinked in surprise.</p><p>“Your majesty?”</p><p>“I have decided to take him as consort in my new kingdom.”</p><p>The quincy commander gave him a shocked look.</p><p>“A…shingami?” he mused.</p><p>“Why should it matter?” the quincy king said off-handedly, “After today, all shall fall under my dominion. Differences so inconsequential will cease to matter.”</p><p>“B-but they…killed…” Haschwald began.</p><p>“Take him to Silbern,” Ywach snapped, cutting him off, “and remain there with him. I want him healed and I want him prepared to serve me as consort…”</p><p>He paused for a moment, looking down into Byakuya’s narrowed, hateful eyes.</p><p>“…and as concubine.”</p><p>Byakuya’s lovely, pale face turned instantly livid.</p><p>“You would dare to defile the soul king’s servant?” he seethed, “You will burn in the depths of <em>hell </em>for this!”</p><p>Ywach loosed a derisive, rumbling laugh and turned his back, kicking Tetsuya’s limp body and sending it hurtling away.</p><p>“Take him to Silbern now,” Ywach repeated, engaging his hirenkyaku and disappearing, leaving Haschwald alone with the reeling Kuchiki leader.</p><p>Byakuya panted harshly, at the ends of his strength.</p><p>“P-please. I ask only one thing.”</p><p>Haschwald’s proud, golden eyes met his curiously.</p><p>“What would you ask of me, your enemy?” he inquired, “Do you want me to kill you, Byakuya? To spare you?”</p><p>“N-no,” Byakuya panted, groaning as his awareness began to fade, “G-give my cousin…”</p><p>He broke off and went still, earning a more sympathetic look from the quincy commander.</p><p>“I see. Here, at the end, you think, not of yourself, but of the one who came to heal you. How very sentimental. I’m surprised. You were said to be quite savage in your obedience to the rules of the noble class, Byakuya. And yet, rather than concerning yourself with your own life, you favor his?”</p><p>“Tet-suya,” Byakuya moaned senselessly.</p><p>“Hmm.”</p><p>Haschwald sighed softly and walked through the debris to where Tetsuya’s body had landed after being kicked there by the quincy king. He extended a hand and expelled just enough power to keep the shinigami alive.</p><p>“I apologize for my king’s cruelty,” he said softly, touching Tetsuya’s tormented face for a moment, “We do not usually treat our healers in such a fashion, and it should not matter if you are a quincy or a shinigami. We should remember our honor, whether in victory or in defeat. Rest now. I will make sure that Byakuya does not die. That should please you, healer.”</p><p>He turned his back and left the fallen shinigami to return to Byakuya. The noble was fully unconscious and barely showing signs of life. Haschwald knelt at his side, working for several minutes to finish the stabilization that Tetsuya had begun.</p><p>“Your cousin is a talented healer,” he commented to the unconscious Kuchiki leader, “His reiatsu has an unusual vibrance. It would definitely have been a waste to kill him. Let me assure you, I did not let him die. Rest now, we need to get back to the palace.”</p><p>He lifted the unconscious man over his shoulder and sensed the direction of the palace, then he disappeared, leaving a flash of bright green light in his wake.</p><p>XXXXXXXXXX</p><p>“Renji…” called a distant sounding feminine voice.</p><p>The redhead felt cold hands patting his face, and he flinched and groaned.</p><p>“F-f-fuck!” he grunted, his eyes flying open.</p><p>Seeing his longtime friend’s bruised face and the blood that stained her arms and shihakusho, he sat up too quickly, then grabbed his head and swore again.</p><p>“Damn it!”</p><p>“Thank god you’re awake,” Rukia sighed, “I was worried, being out here all alone, especially once it got dark. Do you think you can get up? We probably should try to find our way to the family encampment.”</p><p>Renji shivered and looked around.</p><p>“Damn, I got thrown pretty far by that guy.”</p><p>He looked more closely at his companion.</p><p>“Are you okay?” he asked.</p><p>“Not really,” Rukia complained, “I was stupid and let myself be distracted when I felt Nii-sama’s reiatsu fading. I don’t feel his presence at all now. I wonder…”</p><p>Renji grabbed her hand tightly in his.</p><p>“Don’t go there,” he said sternly, “Taicho’s hurt. I know that. But even though he’s hurt, we’re gonna find him and he’s gonna be okay. We’ve just gotta go and look for him.”</p><p>Rukia peered into the darkness around them.</p><p>“It’s really dark,” she commented, “shouldn’t we…?”</p><p>“I don’t think Taicho can wait until morning,” Renji insisted, “We need to find him now.”</p><p>Rukia bit back her misgivings and nodded briefly.</p><p>“Hold still and let me heal you a little.”</p><p>Renji fidgeted and complained intermittently, earning a scowl and a heated scolding from his friend as she slowly closed the cuts on his tattooed skin, then restored his flagging reiatsu. The two climbed to their feet, sensing in all directions.</p><p>“Do you know where Nii-sama was from here?” Rukia asked anxiously.</p><p>“I know where we started out,” Renji said, shaking his head, “but I got thrown this way and Taicho could have been thrown anywhere in the final blast from…”</p><p>He met Rukia’s eyes unhappily.</p><p>“You know about the bankais being stolen?” he asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” Rukia said sadly, “I heard. Was Nii-sama’s bankai stolen?”</p><p>“Yeah, it was.”</p><p>“Oh no…”</p><p>“We’ve gotta watch out for that guy, although I guess they probably wouldn’t stick around, since we were all defeated. We need to focus on finding Taicho, and then we can take him to the family encampment. Do you know the coordinates?”</p><p>“No,” Rukia admitted, “Byakuya purposely had the ones of us going into battle make sure we didn’t know, so that we couldn’t be used to find the family.”</p><p>“Well, if you don’t know how to get there…” Renji began, “then…”</p><p>“My cousin, Tetsuya, and his spirit steed, Arashi, will be guarding the encampment,” Rukia explained, “We just need to find Tetsuya.”</p><p>Renji looked around and huffed out an agnostic breath.</p><p>“Oh, just find Tetsuya,” he chuckled, “That’ll be easy with the goddamned quincy king’s reiatsu obscuring everything so that we can’t even sense each other.”</p><p>“Well, do you have a better idea?” Rukia argued.</p><p>“Not really. I just think it’s ridiculous thinking we’re gonna find Taicho and the encampment that easily.”</p><p>“What? You just wanna give up or something?”</p><p>“I didn’t say that!”</p><p>“Well, instead of whining about how hard it’s gonna be, you should be helping me look!”</p><p>“I am helping!” Renji countered, “See? On my feet. Moving. I’m helping!”</p><p>Rukia fell in alongside the redhead as Renji began by following the path of destruction that had been created with the luchador had crashed into him.</p><p>“What a mess,” the young woman observed, “The damage to the Seireitei from this conflict is horrible.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Renji mused, “How about the damage to my body? I was the one sent flying into those broken columns, you know. The Gotei had better not blame me for that. Their advice about how to fight those quincies was bullshit. They didn’t seal taicho’s bankai, the bastard, As Nodt, stole it!”</p><p>“I can’t believe that my brother’s power is now controlled by one of them,” Rukia said, reaching down to touch her own sword.</p><p>“We’ll get it back,” Renji assured her, “We’ll get Taicho back and we’ll take back his power. I’m not gonna stop until that happens.”</p><p>“Neither will I,” Rukia promised.</p><p>The two continued on together, with Renji leading the way until they reached a place that still radiated with the dregs of heavy reiatsu. Rukia paled as she spotted a few fading petals on the ground.</p><p>“Renji…”</p><p>“I know.”</p><p>Renji turned in one direction, then another, closing his eyes and trying to remember. He breathed slowly, thinking, as Rukia watched the area around them for any sign of returning enemies. A few minutes later, the redhead opened his eyes and pointed out the direction.</p><p>“I think he was thrown that way.”</p><p>Rukia swallowed nervously, and the two moved in the direction the redhead had indicated. As they progressed, they were chilled by the sight of blood splashed on the fallen columns and heavily damaged buildings.</p><p>“Oh, poor Nii-sama,” Rukia whispered.</p><p>The two warriors slowed as they reached a broken and very bloody pillar that had a deep indentation and looked as though a body had been trapped there and bleeding out.</p><p>“Renji!”</p><p>Ignoring her, Renji dashed forward and studied the area closely. He sucked in a sharp breath and expelled a heated burst of obscenities.</p><p>“Fucking bastards took him!” the redhead steamed, “Who knows what kinda twisted…”</p><p>“Renji!” Rukia cried, “Over there!”</p><p>The two flash stepped madly to reach the black-haired man who laid facedown in the rubble.</p><p>“Nii-sama!” Rukia called out.</p><p>“Quiet, they’ll hear you!” Renji snapped.</p><p>They reached the fallen man’s side and knelt beside him, slowly turning him over.</p><p>“Nii-sama?”</p><p>Their eyes widened at the sight of the young man’s face.</p><p>“Tetsuya!” Rukia gasped.</p><p>“Who?” Renji asked, looking more closely at the young man’s comely face, “That’s your cousin?”</p><p>“Yes, and he’s hurt really badly.”</p><p>“It looks like he was run through from behind,” Renji observed, “Fucking evil bastards!”</p><p>“That’s strange,” Rukia said, touching a finger to her lips, “because it’s really, really hard to surprise Tetsuya. His senses are very sharp…although the reiatsu thickness because of the quincy king did obscure everything, and I’m sure that if he was here for Nii-sama, he was probably focused on that.”</p><p>“So, how are we gonna find the encampment now?” Renji asked worriedly, “I don’t suppose your cousin’s spirit steed can help?”</p><p>Rukia shook her head firmly, laying a hand on Tetsuya’s chest and bowing her head.</p><p>“When Tetsuya’s life is in danger from injury, Arashi is pulled inside his body to help keep him alive. Arashi can’t help us.”</p><p>“Well, then maybe I can,” said Ichigo’s voice.</p><p>Rukia and Renji turned to see their friend stepping out of the darkness.</p><p>“Ichigo!” Rukia exclaimed, “You’re finally here!”</p><p>She took another breath and her face crumpled in anger.</p><p>“Where the hell have you been while we were all getting our asses kicked?” she shouted.</p><p>“Whoa!” Ichigo yelped, “I got here as fast as I could. I was locked in the precipice world and couldn’t get out for awhile. You’re lucky I got out at all!”</p><p>He looked around and shook his head.</p><p>“Where is Byakuya? I know I felt his presence, and I saw a place like this in my mind. I was trying to get to him.”</p><p>“We were too,” Renji explained, “We couldn’t find him, but it looks like the quincies did.”</p><p>“Damn it!” Ichigo swore, “I was too late.”</p><p>“We all were,” Rukia lamented.</p><p>Renji’s hands clenched and his eyes narrowed.</p><p>“Well, we’re gonna have to regroup and we’re gonna have to find him.”</p><p>“I think Ichigo isn’t going to be able to help us, Renji,” Rukia said solemnly.</p><p>“What?” the two men said together.</p><p>“You know the power of the quincies is something we didn’t expect,” Rukia went on, “We have no way of overcoming that power. To protect the survivors and to protect the soul king, Ichigo needs to go on.”</p><p>“But…” Ichigo objected.</p><p>“She’s right,” Renji added, “Leave the search for Taicho with us. We’ll find him, Ichigo. You go and do what you can to stop that bastard. That’s what Taicho’d be asking you to do, if he was here, isn’t it?”</p><p>Ichigo hesitated for a moment, then his face set with determination.</p><p>“Right,” he agreed, “I leave this to you now. I’m going on ahead!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Boundaries</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Renji asked, tilting his head and watching as Rukia extended her hands over Tetsuya’s unconscious form, “It doesn’t look or feel like he’s waking up, you know.”</p><p>“I <em>know </em>that, you fool!” Rukia snapped, her hands shaking with effort, “I’m doing the best I can. I was trained as a warrior, not a healer. Most shinigamis aren’t able to do both with equal ability, although…Tetsuya was trained by Nii-sama, and even though he’s a healer, he can fight too.”</p><p>“Too bad he can’t do either, now that he’s unconscious and half dead,” Renji sighed, looking around the dark cave they had found to conceal themselves inside, “It’s freezing in here and having gotten the shit kicked out of us, neither one of us still has any provisions. Can you hurry that up? Much longer and we’ll be spending the night here!”</p><p>“Do <em>you</em> wanna come over here and try to heal him, dummy?” the young woman snapped, “Except you know with <em>your </em>kido ability, you’d probably blow him and yourself up.”</p><p>“HEY!” Renji shouted.</p><p>“You want to keep it down, <em>baka</em>?” Rukia scolded him, “We are still in dangerous territory. There are quincies roaming around all over the place, and if they find us before we find the encampment, then we are all dead.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Renji answered, scowling, “I know that.”</p><p>He looked around the cave again and shook his head.</p><p>“I think I’d better keep watch on the entrance. We camouflaged it pretty well, but still…”</p><p>“You’re right,”Rukia agreed, “I’ll keep trying to heal Tetsuya enough to wake him, and you can keep watch.”</p><p>Her eyes followed as Renji headed to the front of the little cave, then she sighed and looked back down at Tetsuya’s drawn face. One slender hand curved around his soft cheek and Rukia smiled down at him sadly.</p><p>“Thank you for watching out for everyone,” she whispered, continuing to radiate healing reiatsu, “And especially, thank you for going to Nii-sama to help him. I’m so sorry that you were hurt, Tetsuya-san. I’m doing my very best to help you. Please try to come back to us?”</p><p>She touched her fingertips to the jagged wound in his chest, where the quincy king’s sword had impaled him.</p><p>“I wonder how you even survived this.”</p><p>Her breath caught and she made a sound of surprise as Tetsuya’s quivered and moaned in distress.</p><p>“Oh…!”</p><p>“It’s okay,” Rukia reassured him, capturing his cold hand and warming it with hers, “You’re going to be all right now.”</p><p>“I sh-should be d-dead,” the young man whispered shakily.</p><p>His eyelids twitched, then slowly opened and two wide sapphire eyes opened and blinked, struggling to focus on her.</p><p>“R-rukia-ch-chan?”</p><p>“I’m here, Tetsuya-san,” Rukia assured him, “Renji and I are both here. We found you in the ruins, near where Nii-sama was fighting.”</p><p>Tetsuya shivered and his jaw clenched.</p><p>“Byakuya-s-sama!” he gasped anxiously, trying to sit up.</p><p>Rukia held him down, objecting instantly as he moved.</p><p>“Stay still, please! You’re barely alive, Tetsuya-san. You’ve been badly injured, and neither Renji nor I are skilled enough to heal your injuries properly.”</p><p>“But…Byakuya-sama,” Tetsuya insisted.</p><p>“We couldn’t find him,” Rukia said sadly, “We think that he was taken by the enemy…but, we believe that he was taken alive.”</p><p>Tetsuya calmed slightly at the words.</p><p>“Cousin,” Rukia went on, “we need to know what you saw. Did you see who took Nii-sama?”</p><p>“Th-they attacked me from behind as I tried to heal Byakuya-sama,” Tetsuya recalled, “I did not see them, but I glimpsed two men…a blonde man and one whose reiatsu matched the one that was spread all over the Seireitei in the attacks.”</p><p>Rukia’s violet eyes widened.</p><p>“You think it was the quincy king?”</p><p>“I think that most likely,” Tetsuya affirmed, “I did not sense them at all as they approached and they attacked without warning, from behind. I should have been killed. I…don’t know why I am still alive.”</p><p>Rukia gave him a gentle smile and squeezed his hand.</p><p>“Well, we are very grateful that you survived. Now, we need to get to the encampment, so that we can get all of us properly healed, then, we need to find Nii-sama!”</p><p>Tetsuya nodded.</p><p>“It’s not far,” he explained, “I will guide you there, as soon as I am recovered enough to walk.”</p><p>“I’m afraid it’s not moving very quickly,” the young woman sighed, “Renji and I just aren’t really good healers like you.”</p><p>“Oh, Rukia-chan,” Tetsuya said encouragingly, “you are doing well. It’s just that my wound was severe.”</p><p>He went quiet for a moment, frowning as a smooth male voice echoed in his mind.</p><p><em>"I apologize for my king's cruelty," someone said softly, touching Tetsuya's tormented face for a moment, "We do not usually treat our healers in such a fashion, and it should not matter if you are a quincy or a shinigami. We should remember our honor, whether in victory or in defeat. Rest now. I will make sure that Byakuya does not die. That should please you, healer</em>."</p><p>“Tetsuya-san,” Rukia said, her voice breaking into his reverie and making him blink and shake his head to clear it, “are you all right?”</p><p>“I…I don’t know,” Tetsuya admitted, his voice shaking slightly, “I was just thinking and maybe I…remembered something.”</p><p>“What did you remember?” Rukia asked, leaning towards him, “Was it about Nii-sama?”</p><p>“W-well, yes…and no,” Tetsuya said uncertainly, “I just…recalled a man’s voice speaking to me. He…seemed to be telling me that I wasn’t going to die, and that he would make sure that Byakuya-sama didn’t die either. I recall that he said that it wasn’t right for me to have been treated the way I was. I think…I think I was healed by a quincy!”</p><p>“A quincy?” Rukia repeated wonderingly, “Why would a quincy have healed you? Weren’t they here to kill us?”</p><p>“They were,” Tetsuya affirmed, “And the one who impaled me, did so coldly, with every intent to kill. I should have been dead before I hit the ground. I suppose Arashi’s return to my body preserved me so that I wasn’t immediately killed…but what happened after, and whether this quincy who saved me from death was involved in Byakuya-sama’s abduction, I’m afraid I just don’t know.”</p><p>He looked down at the jagged healing wound on his chest and shook his head.</p><p>“But…I am going to find out.”</p><p>“Hey!” Renji’s voice hissed suddenly from the front of the little cave, “Rukia, get over here!”</p><p>“What is it? What’s wrong?” Rukia called out softly.</p><p>“We’ve got trouble,” Renji said worriedly as Rukia moved to join him at the cave’s entrance, “There’s a quincy nearby.”</p><p>XXXXXXXXXX</p><p>A soft sound of discomfort traveled across the king’s suite within the Silbern palace, making Haschwald turn away from the open balcony doors to look at the pale, mostly naked shinigami who laid, recovering, in Ywach’s bed. The man shouldn’t have been moving at all, let alone waking. The quincy second in command gazed in wonder as Byakuya’s hazy, dark grey eyes opened and blinked, then squinted, trying to focus. He moved to the noble’s bedside and sat down.</p><p>“It’s better if you hold still,” he advised the waking prisoner, “You are not going to be able to break these restraints. I know you are strong for a shinigami, but we are prepared for that.”</p><p>Byakuya managed to muster a scathing look, but gave the quincy no reply.</p><p>“You must be hungry after such serious injury, and the several hours on intravenous fluids,” Haschwald added, “Your stomach may be weak from the damage that As Nodt did to you with your bankai, so I would advise you eat slowly.”</p><p>He picked up the tray of soft, bland foods and tea that had been left and set them in the restrained noble’s lap, then he loosened the top restraints enough to allow him to eat. Byakuya looked quietly at the tray for a moment, then dumped it onto the floor.</p><p>“I understand your anger,” Haschwald acknowledged calmly, “but acting out in that way will only make your healer have to put you back on intravenous fluids. Like it or no, you do not have the option of starving yourself. The only option you have is to accept your circumstances and decide whether you want to be cooperative and earn a better situation for yourself, or if you would rather suffer even more than your king is likely to make you suffer when he returns. Either way, you are, as of the moment of your defeat and capture, the property of his majesty, King Ywach.”</p><p>The quincy barely managed to move in time to evade as Byakuya suddenly spat at him.</p><p>“Unexpected, coming from someone like you,” Haschwald commented, seeming to show no anger at the attack, “but your options, at this point are severely limited, so I suppose it makes sense. Luckily for you, we are under orders not to harm you in any way. Your king, however, will punish you if you attempt such displays with him.”</p><p>Haschwald read the seething reply in the noble’s proud eyes.</p><p>
  <em>That murderous tyrant is not my king!</em>
</p><p>“You do not respect his majesty,” the quincy observed, “but that is because you have not experienced his level of power and ruthlessness yet. Upon his return, you will certainly learn to be more obedient.”</p><p>He glanced at the door as an attendant arrived and began to clean up the mess on the floor.</p><p>“Ah, Andreas, thank you. Will you bring another food tray?”</p><p>Haschwald gave Byakuya a look of warning as the attendant finished the cleanup and left the room again.</p><p>“I strongly encourage you to reconsider eating,” he advised the glaring noble, sitting down again at Byakuya’s bedside, “As much as I know that there is no escaping obedience, I don’t enjoy seeing anyone suffer…not even shingamis.”</p><p>He read the little hint of dark curiosity that rose in the noble’s dark, brooding eyes.</p><p>“You are curious?” Haschwald mused, “Well, that makes sense, as you have little knowledge of quincies, I suppose.”</p><p>Byakuya’s eyes lost a measure of their vehemence and his body relaxed very slightly.</p><p>“You are interested in learning more? Of course you are, because you still haven’t accepted that you are going to be remaining here and you want to gather as much information as you can, for when you return home. I suppose I should apologize for being frank, but…you are never going to go back to the Seireitei. In fact, the Seireitei is going to be completely annihilated in the war. So…it does no damage at all for me to tell you what you want to know. I will answer any questions that you have. Please, feel free to ask me anything, Byakuya.”</p><p>To his surprise, the noble drew a slow breath, then broke his stubborn silence.</p><p>“Why do you follow him?”</p><p>Haschwald looked back at the noble silently.</p><p>“Were you given a choice, or did he make that decision for <em>you</em> as well?”</p><p>The quincy nodded approvingly.</p><p>“I do not know if you were talking about the quincies, as a whole, or if you were asking about me personally, but I will answer both. The quincies follow his majesty because he is the strongest of us, and it is our destiny to serve him.”</p><p>“Blind obedience?” Byakuya breathed softly, “Or just sheer dominance?”</p><p>“You felt the heaviness of his reiatsu,” Haschwald reasoned, “You saw how easily he evaded the powerful senses of your healer and struck him down. You saw his ruthlessness.”</p><p>“Did you let Tetsuya die?” Byakuya asked suddenly, making the quincy blink in surprise.</p><p>“Did I let him die?” Haschwald repeated, “No, I honored your request to leave enough life in him that he might be found and healed. I cannot tell you if he is still alive, but I did not allow him to die where he fell.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Byakuya said softly.</p><p>“Do not dare to hope that it means he will go on living,” the quincy warned him, “Remember that the world you know is going to end. Ywach will sweep it away and build his new kingdom.”</p><p>“And what kind of place will that be?” Byakuya inquired, “Has he told you that?”</p><p>Haschwald nodded.</p><p>“He has said that he will make an end of our enemies, that he will cleanse the world of their wickedness and create a new world. He has said that each of us will play a role in those goals.”</p><p>“Hmm.”</p><p>“You asked me why I follow his majesty,” Haschwald went on, “and I will tell you. I was an abused child, living with my wicked uncle, who only kept me so that he could take advantage of my body and my innate ability to raise the power of the ones around me. I was weak and had no power to change my fate. But one day, his majesty found me, and he told me that my life, and my power wasn’t meaningless. He told me that I am the other part of him…and indeed, while he wears the mask of the king by day, he places it upon me at night so that he can rest and absorb the souls that have died under his dominion.”</p><p>Haschwald paused at the soft sound of surprise and shock that escaped the restrained noble.</p><p>“What is it, Byakuya? Is something wrong?” he asked.</p><p>Byakuya’s expression darkened, but he held in the thought that chilled his insides.</p><p>
  <em>If, indeed, this quincy is the other part of the king…and Ywach needs both his soul and this man’s to maintain some kind of balance, why, then, does he keep me here, naming me as his consort?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What does this mean?</em>
</p><p>“You look distressed,” the quincy second in command noted, watching as the attendant returned to the room and set down a fresh tray of food on the nightstand.</p><p>Haschwald thanked the youth, who bowed then left, then he picked up the cup of hot tea on the tray and offered it to the noble.</p><p>“Perhaps some tea to soothe your nerves?”</p><p>Byakuya gazed at him in silence for several long moments, then he extended a hand to accept the tea. He breathed in the steam coming out of the cup.</p><p>
  <em>I was trained to sense poisons and other drugs, and this tea does not appear to have been laced with anything.</em>
</p><p>He took a sip and found the blend to be among the finest he had tasted.</p><p>“Is that any better?” Haschwald asked.</p><p>
  <em>This man is difficult to read. He remains so calm, no matter what happens. I wouldn’t call his behavior cruel and I wouldn’t call it kind either. He seems completely subservient to Ywach’s will and he seems to think that it is only a matter of time before I will be reduced to acting in the same, subservient manner.</em>
</p><p>“Byakuya?”</p><p>“I don’t know why you waste your concern on me,” the noble answered, “Am I not merely an enemy to you?”</p><p>Haschwald studied him briefly and sighed.</p><p>“You are an enemy,” he agreed, “but you have been deemed <em>useful</em> by our leader. It is a great honor, especially for an enemy. You should embrace your role and do your very best to please our king.”</p><p>“You are truly so deep under his spell,” Byakuya pondered, “that you seem to have lost all sense of being an individual, and having your own will. I find that unnerving.”</p><p>Haschwald surprised him with the faintest of smiles.</p><p>“Byakuya,” he said solemnly, “don’t we all wish to know what we were made to be? What we were meant to do? Is that not the deepest desire of all who live?”</p><p>“Perhaps, but…”</p><p>“I was a lost soul,” the quincy commander went on, “and no one was going to save me. This is true of all of the ones he chose to build his kingdom. Everyone who lives, everyone who dies…<em>everyone</em>, Byakuya…we all have a place in his majesty’s great vision. For the shinigamis, it is to be the final repayment for their attempt at the genocide of the quincy people. For the rest of us, it is the honor of being a part of the machine that brings the shinigami world down and razes the ground it rested on. It is the delight of living to see the new world that rises out of the ashes to grow and flourish, free of the wicked ones who wanted all of us dead.”</p><p>Byakuya gave Haschwald a look of consternation.</p><p>“Is there some reason that you speak of me as though I had ceased to be your enemy and had instead been taken in as one of your own?” he asked sternly, “I <em>am</em> a shinigami, still. That has not changed.”</p><p>Haschwald looked directly into the noble leader’s widened eyes as he answered.</p><p>“Do you not feel it?” he asked softly, “The change in your reiatsu, in the way that it feels and the way that it flows? Do you not understand that you are no longer theirs to command? Look now at your reflection, Byakuya. Do you feel it?”</p><p>The noble exhaled a shaky breath and closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses. Immediately, he felt the shattered link with his zanpakuto’s spirit.</p><p>
  <em>Although I still control my shikai that is based solely on my own ability, I have lost the powers that grew along with my bond with Senbonzakura. I feel his turmoil and pain leaking through, but…he has a new master.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sen…I am…sorry.</em>
</p><p>“You are in pain from the loss of your zanpakuto spirit,” Haschwald acknowledged, reading his expression, “Maybe it will comfort you to know that you do not need the additional power of that spirit anymore.”</p><p>Byakuya’s breath caught and he locked eyes with Haschwald again.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Look deep within your soul, Byakuya,” the quincy advised him, “Behold! The crest of the royal consort that has been inscribed upon it!”</p><p>If Kuchiki Byakuya had thought that As Nodt’s power had been terrifying, he lost all sense of that being the case as he felt the king’s marking on his soul.</p><p>
  <em>The crest of the consort?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I am a…a quincy now?</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Fallen Gods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You might as well come out,” a cocky male voice sneered, “I know you’re hiding around here somewhere, and I’m going to find you and kill you, so you might as well show yourself.”</p><p>Rukia crept to the front of the cave, taking up a position at Renji’s side and watching as the white clad form outside poked around the area, prodding bushes and hopping into the branches of trees, where he paused and scanned the area from up higher. The redhead gave his slighter comrade a questioning look, which Rukia read as “<em>Do you think he’s serious, or is he full of shit?</em>” The female shinigami’s violet eyes darkened and narrowed as she observed the quincy carefully. He continued to whack at the bushes and complain, kicking at the rocks.</p><p>“Do you see, Renji?” Rukia breathed softly, “He’s ambling around like he’s not sure where we are, but bit by bit, he’s getting closer and closer.”</p><p>Renji’s lips curved back in a sneer and his fingers curled around the hilt of his sword.</p><p>“We’re probably going to have to fight him, then,” he concluded.</p><p>“Probably,” Rukia agreed, placing her hand on the hilt of her own weapon, “but we need to be really careful. We’re not at full strength and we have to protect Tetsuya-san, since he’s so badly injured and he can’t fight at all.”</p><p>“We may have a problem, since we can’t fight in this cave, but we also can’t leave him.”</p><p>“Don’t worry about me,” Tetsuya said softly, making the other two shinigamis catch their breath at his sudden appearance at their side, “I am badly injured and I can’t move around a lot, but I am able to use my innate ability to hide myself from view.”</p><p>“Hey!” Renji hissed, staring, “weren’t you over there, half-dead a minute ago? How did you get over here?”</p><p>“Tetsuya-san, you shouldn’t be on your feet,” Rukia objected more softly, “You’ll put too much strain on that wound and it will start bleeding again.”</p><p>“It’s all right,” Tetsuya assured them, “I’ve regained enough strength to move around a little and to use powers that don’t require reiatsu flow. That’s why I can shield myself from being seen.”</p><p>He glanced down to where a small amount of blood was already leaking from under his bandages.</p><p>“If I had more reiatsu, I could shield you as well, however…”</p><p>“Renji and I will be all right,” Rukia assured him, “Just hide yourself as well as you can and let us fight if we can’t just avoid this guy.”</p><p>Tetsuya knelt at the cave entrance, holding one hand to his wounded chest while following the quincy’s seemingly rambling movements intently.</p><p>“I think Rukia-chan was right that, random as his movements might seem, this quincy is honing in on our location. He will find us soon. Unfortunately, it will be difficult for either of you to slip out of the cave unnoticed. Anyway, he is probably aware that he can find you by either searching as he is, or just flushing you out.”</p><p>“What do you think we should do?” Rukia asked.</p><p>Renji gave her a baffled look.</p><p>“Why are you asking a healer something like that?” he complained, “Look…”</p><p>“You idiot!” Rukia scolded him furiously, “Didn’t you listen to what I told you about Tetsuya-san before?”</p><p>“Huh…I uh…” Renji stammered, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck.</p><p>“I <em>told</em> you that Tetsuya-san was entrusted with guarding the encampment. Do you honestly think that my brother would entrust the safety of our family to a simple healer?”</p><p>“Eh…well…”</p><p>“Of course he wouldn’t!” Rukia snapped, “Tetsuya-san is also Nii-sama’s bodyguard, a man so skilled and so stealthy, he could kill you before you knew he was there!”</p><p>“Um, s-sorry, Tetsuya-san,” Renji said sheepishly, “I didn’t mean to insult you.”</p><p>“Oh, it’s fine,” Tetsuya answered, giving him an amused look.</p><p>“If you’re finished underestimating my cousin,” Rukia said, crossing her arms and scowling, “we should really be focusing on how not to get killed by that approaching quincy.”</p><p>“But I…”</p><p>“It’s okay,” Tetsuya said softly, looking out at the approaching enemy, “I have an idea.”</p><p>“See?” Rukia scoffed, “<em>This</em> is why he is the brains of this operation and you’re <em>not</em>!”</p><p>“Take that back!” Renji hissed.</p><p>Tetsuya’s pained grimace eased slightly and he gave the two a look of forced patience.</p><p>“Would you two like to hear this before or after that quincy arrives and slaughters us?”</p><p>Rukia and Renji exchanged scowls, then turned their attention to Rukia’s cousin.</p><p>“This is how I see it,” Tetsuya explained, “I neither have the capacity to conceal us all nor to escape, but I can do something to enable the two of you to gain a tactical advantage.”</p><p>“What do you want us to do?” asked Renji, moving closer to him.</p><p>“I am going to use my waterform to slip out of here and head away from this place. I want you to keep an eye on the enemy and when I relinquish my waterform…”</p><p>“Wait a minute! What?” Renji objected, “Tetsuya, you can’t…”</p><p>“I have to,” the sapphire-eyed man insisted, “If that quincy turns his full attention on all of us, we are going to lose. Everything I have seen of the quincies and their odd powers suggests this, however, some of our fighters have had success in attacks that occur while the quincies are, themselves, attacking. You will need to watch the quincy and wait for him to start his attack…”</p><p>“Ah,” Renji said, rubbing his chin and frowning, “we need to be fast enough that the blow never lands.”</p><p>“And,” Rukia added, “the attack has to be powerful enough to drop him in one hit.”</p><p>The two longtime friends nodded together.</p><p>“We can do it,” Rukia affirmed.</p><p>“Just, uh, hey…y’know, be careful out there,” Renji cautioned Tetsuya, who blinked in surprise at the warning, “The quincies aren’t just strong. They’re wicked fast too. Their hirenkyaku makes them as fast as the ones of us who use the flash step.”</p><p>“I will be cautious,” Tetsuya promised, a little flush touching his cheeks at the intensity of the redhead’s gaze.</p><p>He took a steadying breath, then turned and headed out of the cave.</p><p>XXXXXXXXXX</p><p>“You look pale,” Haschwald observed as realization washed over Byakuya’s face, draining the color away, “even more so than before. You understand now, don’t you? You are no longer a shinigami. You have been granted a new and more powerful form, with which you will serve your new master.”</p><p>“That monster is not now, and will never be, my master,” the noble said in a low, angry voice as he stared into the bedside mirror, “I will not give my consent to this.”</p><p>“Again, you fail to understand,” the quincy commander sighed, his eyes oddly sad, “Does the sun refuse to warm the planet? Does the flower that is touched by the sun and nourished with soil and water, refuse to grow? You were recreated with a purpose, Byakuya. And like the rest of us, you will have no choice but to fulfill that purpose. Still, the clouds do not hold back when the rain needs to fall and the seasons occur peacefully in their order. You should not weep for the chaos that is ending because of this war. You should embrace things being put back in order…the pieces playing their part to build his majesty’s new world.”</p><p>Byakuya sighed and closed his eyes, no longer able to bear the sight of himself</p><p>“And given the horror that will sit on the throne, what kind of world is that going to be?” Byakuya countered, opening his dark, brooding eyes and fastening them on Haschwald’s brighter, solemn ones.</p><p>“Come now,” Haschwald chided him but gently, “you of all people, knows the travesty that already sits on the shinigami throne. Don’t you also say that you bear that travesty because you are trying to preserve the world you know? Is that world not good despite the half dead monarch puppet who barely holds your world together?”</p><p>Byakuya held Haschwald’s gaze a moment longer, then his head bowed.</p><p>“The state of the king is egregious,” he capitulated, “but it was never my intent to simply accept his rule as fate.”</p><p>Haschwald’s breath caught slightly and he blinked in surprise.</p><p>“<em>You</em> were working secretly to overthrow your own king?” he asked in a shocked tone.</p><p>“Not to overthrow the king,” Byakuya corrected him, “but to shed light on the truth.”</p><p>Haschwald pulled a chair over and sat down as Byakuya moved to the edge of the bed and sat facing him.</p><p>“All of the noble leaders know…” the noble continued, “that in the first quincy blood war with the shinigamis, the shinigami king disappeared along with his consort, and the badly injured quincy king was captured. This is what you refer to when you call our king a travesty.”</p><p>“Yes,” the quincy commander agreed, blinking more slowly.</p><p>“Squad Zero and the noble leaders of the time knew that something was needed to continue to hold our worlds together. They, in turn, used their fallen enemy to create the lie that replaced our king. It was then that the defeated quincy king was encased in that crystal housing and placed in the cocoon shaped palace that replaced the shinigami king’s lost world in the heavens. The truth is that no one, not even the replacement king, knows the true fate of the original Reio. When that last war ended, Reio and his consort, my ancestor, Kuchiki Hajime, were missing…and so was the ancient artifact known as…<em>the king’s prism</em>.”</p><p>Haschwald’s breath caught more sharply and his hand shot out and wrapped tightly around Byakuya’s slender wrist.</p><p>“You have access to the king’s prism?” he hissed, his golden eyes glinting.</p><p>“I said that the artifact was <em>lost</em>,” Byakuya repeated.</p><p>The quincy commander’s pale eyes peered into his.</p><p>“Yes, you did,” Haschwald agreed, “but…”</p><p>The quincy commander paused and gave the noble a meaningful look.</p><p>“I see something in your eyes that tells me it is not necessarily as lost as everyone thought. Is that true, Byakuya? Do you know where the king’s prism is?”</p><p>“If I did, do you think I would tell you where it was?” Byakuya inquired archly.</p><p>Haschwald sighed and shook his head.</p><p>“Do you really still not understand your position, Byakuya?” he asked, his frown deepening, “You cannot withhold anything at all from his majesty. That is the truth of it. No matter what knowledge you have, he will take it and use it according to his will. So, if you know where the artifact is, then you might as well tell me, or he will remove it from you in a much more painful extraction.”</p><p>“Do you think I am afraid of pain?” Byakuya hissed, his steely eyes glinting, “I assure you, I am not. Not of pain, not of death, and I know that no matter what he threatens, there is no fate worse for <em>anyone</em> than to yield anything to help him. He may take it from me, but I think you and I both know that for some reason, Ywach doesn’t want me dead. Doesn’t that make you curious?”</p><p>Haschwald gazed at him silently for several long moments, then he began to answer, only to find himself unable as Ywach opened the door to the room and stepped inside.</p><p>“Your majesty,” he said, dropping to one knee and bowing his head.</p><p>The king’s solemn eyes focused for a moment on Byakuya, and the noble made a sound of shock as an unseen force brought him down on his back and held him fast against the surface of the bed.</p><p>“Rise, Commander,” the quincy king said calmly, “It is evening. It is time for you to assume the mask of the king.”</p><p>Byakuya’s eyes narrowed and an icy feeling of dread passed through him.</p><p>
  <em>The mask of the king?</em>
</p><p>He watched in dismay from where he laid, restrained on the bed, as Haschwald rose to his full height and stood, facing the quincy monarch. White light swirled around the two, and as it swelled and began to pulsate, the noble’s eyes widened at the looks of torment both of the quincies wore during the exchange. After several torturous minutes, Haschwald stiffened sharply, then his pale eyes darkened and his expression slowly eased. Ywach nodded briefly, dismissing the commander, then as Haschwald turned and exited the room, he walked slowly to the bed and looked down at the noble. Byakuya looked back at him in calm defiance.</p><p>“I see,” said the king, “You are strong-willed. But you will soon realize that your will is meaningless here.”</p><p>Calm hands opened Byakuya’s clothing, baring the noble’s lovely, pale form, and Ywach stood, gazing down at him with an unreadable expression.</p><p>“Do you understand what you are now?” he asked.</p><p>Byakuya glared back at him and said nothing in answer.</p><p>“You are a quincy,” Ywach continued, “You have been crafted to be so, by the hand of the quincy king.”</p><p>“The king,” Byakuya breathed softly, his eyes blinking slowly, “You are no king. At very least, you are not mine.”</p><p>To his surprise, Ywach smiled.</p><p>“No,” he agreed, “right now, I am not. By day, I am king, but by night, I am father of the quincies. Look around me. Do you see them, Byakuya?”</p><p>The noble’s breath caught as he suddenly spotted the pale forms that floated around the quincy king.</p><p>“All of the quincies and all of the shinigamis who died today are coming to join with me. They will gift me with their reiatsu, all of their knowledge, and all of their powers. In this way, all of them will come to serve me. In this way, my knowledge and my power will continue to grow.</p><p>Byakuya’s scowl deepened.</p><p>
  <em>He must give to Haschwald the mask of the king while he does this? Does this mean that Ywach is more vulnerable at night? Still, even if he is more vulnerable, his powers as king are in Haschwald’s body.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I need to think about this.</em>
</p><p>“You look confused,” Ywach said as he very slowly opened his own clothing, “but that is to be expected. You have been through a lot today, with your society being destroyed, your cousin dying in front of you and finding yourself altered to suit my needs. I will only have you endure one more thing before allowing you to sleep, Byakuya.”</p><p>“You would soil the body of the soul king’s servant?” Byakuya asked coldly.</p><p>“You are not his servant,” Ywach answered with equal iciness, his hand sliding down Byakuya’s bared body and beginning a slow, methodical preparation, “I have taken you from him. I have altered you to serve my needs. You are now mine, and you will never need to bother with your former king again.”</p><p>He withdrew his fingers and climbed onto the bed, then laid down on top of the restrained man, positioning himself, then entering in short, gentle thrusts.</p><p>“Do I look afraid to you?” Byakuya asked angrily.</p><p>“Not at all,” Ywach praised him warmly, pausing as their bodies were fully joined, “You look perfect, Byakuya. You are every bit the best choice to be my consort. Do you think I want some weak, beaten little thing like the shinigami you were? No, I prefer this much stronger and more beautiful form. Soon, you will come to embrace your role in my new dynasty.”</p><p>“I will never embrace you, or anything you have to offer,” the noble spat, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes as the father of the quincies caressed his face and began thrusting.</p><p>
  <em>Does he really think that changing my form and raping me will break down my will? Or does my will and everyone else’s just not matter to him, because he fancies himself stronger and smarter than everyone?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And what is this connection that he has with Haschwald? Why must he relinquish the mask of the king to receive the souls that have died?</em>
</p><p>He shivered and his jaw clenched harder as the quincy king’s thrusts became gradually more powerful and Ywach groaned with intense pleasure and began to climax. But while he had been prepared for the possibility of being captured and raped by an enemy, Byakuya was sure that nothing could prepare him for the explosion of molten heat that struck his restrained body, dragging an agonized scream from deep in his chest as Ywach climaxed. For a moment, chaos took over, and he felt himself dragged to the very edges of his sanity. He began to lose consciousness and even with his eyes closed, he sensed that the man on top of him was smiling.</p><p>“Do you understand now, Byakuya?” Ywach panted, his black, powerful eyes boring through Byakuya’s closed eyelids and seeming to invade the very depths of his soul, “You are mine now, and no matter what, you will serve me, in whatever way I see fit. What you desire and what you are…mean…nothing.”</p><p>
  <em>No.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I refuse.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>With my last breath, I will continue to resist you!</em>
</p>
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